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I have used Leica CS twice, both for things that were my fault. Nothing but aces, they were great. Spence

I've had two great experiences with Leica CS in the last year or so. Call them with your tracking numbers and see what's going on.

My trinovids never needed service after 11 years of hard work so I don't personally have any experience with Leica CS. It does seem to be hit or miss though.

You can have both......Swaro SLC HD.

What Leica did in your case with that geovid was above and beyond, no doubt, and nobody could treat you better than they did. As long as I have the Kowa Prominar 884 I've no need for a Swaro spotter.

I returned a 1200 rangefinder that was giving unsatisfactory performance and had a new one in about a week and a half. My experience couldn't have been more painless.
I guess exchanges are a little quicker than repairs.
Brian

Brian, my experience with Leica couldn't have been more painful. My Leica 1200 rangefinder quit working, and Leica wouldn't repair it if I paid for the repair, let alone warranty it. They wouldn't exchange it either, and I was within a week of leaving for Africa on safari. I'm glad they took care of you, but they flat out stiffed me.

IMO CS should be definitely included in your decision with spending this kind of money on alpha products. I think it should be right up there with all the other characteristics of the optics. ie: power, FOV, resolution, focus ability, clarity in low light and... CS

I would never consider a Leica product (or Zeiss for that matter) just because of the reports like these. And who needs to buy something from a company that involves such hit or miss luck of the draw service? Or you have to know the right guy or drop the right name. Pathetic.

Now Swarovski on the other hand-- LEGENDARY CS. No doubts when you buy their stuff.

Back to Leica and their CS-- here is an example for you. A friend of mine has a very nice Leica 8x32 Ultravid. Optics are superb. Well, I bought a used, not working 8x32 Pentax DCF ED; from a local second hand (well, OK- it was a pawn shop) and I called the service dept. of Pentax before I bought them and they said it would cost me 19.95 for the repair and to send them in (the focus would not go to the full far range). They said they would go in the repair line and it might take 4 weeks or so to get then back.

So I send them in with the $ 19.95 and I get them back in 10 days!! And they are perfect- focus silky smooth and optics are stunning. I knew that they were good when I bought them, so I took a chance on the service part. You do not even want to know what I paid for the Pentax's. Because it made my friend sick when he looked at mine and we compared the Leica's to the Pentax ED. Can you say- splitting hairs, and I mean literally- they are that close.

So a little while later, my friends Ultravid focuser goes belly up and is not working the way it should. Well he sends them in to Leica and what a fiasco. It took over 4 months to get them back and a bunch of phone calls and he did have to pay shipping. Must not have known the right guys. Terrible. My friend was sick about the whole thing, made him really ? Leica's after sale service. And it makes him even more sick when he looks through my Pentax's.

In the mean time I also send in my super Swarovski 7x30 SLC for a routine check up and cleaning and they come back in 2 weeks with a set of winged eye cups also thrown in gratis, just because I asked about them when I called. I asked how much they would be and they said we will let you know. And then the bino's show up with an extra set of Winged eyecups thrown in for no charge. And I did not even have a set before for them, I was just inquiring as to what they would be if I got them with the repair.

Now that is CS.

Swarovski has ALWAYS treated me right.

1Absolutely no doubts about what you're getting with Swaro. The Pentax 10x43Ed I looked through was ridiculous............ridiculously fantastic that is!

That's the reason I picked Swaro for my first high end binocs.

I made this post last Wednesday after having about 10 different conversations over the last 5 month's about my spotting scope with Leica. Last Wed. they told me the part's to fix my scope were on WWBO (world wide back order) and a repair date was impossible to predict since the part's dont exist at this time.............My scope hit the doorstep this afternoon off a UPS truck shipped last Thursday. amazing how the part's appeared overnight from Germany once I got a bit grumpy !!!!!

Doug was the only reason I went with a pair of Leicas. Knowing he would have my back allowed me to go with what I really wanted.

Well, what would happen if God forbid, something would happen to Doug? How could you be sure that he would always be able to "have your back" ??

The CS of a company has to be much bigger than one man; especially when that man is not an employee of the company, but rather a sales rep. I know that Leica's CS is bigger than Doug, but I would not base a buyer decision dependent on his help at a future date. I think Doug is great and I would trust him in an optics purchase; in so far as recommendations go.

But... I would not make my decision on a major optics purchase if I thought that meant that future service of that product would depend on whether Doug, or any one else for that matter could go to bat for me down the road. Sometimes those people are not around. The warranty on these products is supposedly pretty long.

This all just further enforces to me why Leica will never have my vote of confidence. And unless there is a significant change in the way they do business- none of my $$ will ever go their way.

Volume has its issues. Leica Sport optics is a small element of the corporate model. (Repairs don;t get much attention)

Leupold is 100% sport optics. (Repairs get 100% attention.)

FWIW:

Quoted from Sniper's Hide Official visit to Leupold:

"in an 8 week period alone, Leupold builds more scopes than Zeiss, Swarovski, Schmidt & Bender, Kahles and Meopta combined. So what these other companies do in an year, Leupold does in 8 weeks."

NOTE: I know leica is not mentioned.

Link:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2436491&page=1

BMT

Wow! I assumed they produced a good deal more than those other brands but that number is staggering. Very cool.

I always figured at least 50% of the deal was being able to see. If not 99%. Customer service is one thing to consider, but I try to buy the best glass I can afford, almost regardless of CS issues.

FIgure the cost of guns, travel, tags, time etc.. I damn sure don't want to just go buy a lesser quality glass because IF something happens to it, they will fix it quicker.

Kinda figure too, doesn't everyone have a backup scope and back up binocs for bad times? I mean that too, would you go on an out of state trip without backup?

JG-which Model of Pentax is that?

Thx
Dober

The Pentax dcf 10x43 ED. Fantastic stuff.

The Pentax ED bino's are really a under rated gem! They compare very well to the Alpha's; maybe just a step behind, but for the price-they are superb. I have compared my 8x32 Pentax ED to a Leica Ultravid HD and a Victory FL (Zeiss) and it did very, very well.

I will also say to my eyes that the 8x32 Pentax DCF ED is sharper than the Swarovski 8x30 SLC NEU. And I love Swarovski. I was going to sell my 7x30 Swaro SLC last year along with my 8x32 Pentax ED and just keep a newly acquired 2010 8x30 SLC Neu. But... to my surprise- the 8x30 SLC was not as sharp in the center resolution as the Pentax ED and was not as good in low light. So, I ended up selling the 2010 8x30 Swaro SLC and kept the Pentax 8x32 ED along with my 7x30 SLC and have NO regrets. Plus I would have only gotten about the same money for selling the pentax ED and the 7x30 swaro as what the 8x30 SLC cost me. And I would have actually been worse off than I am now with (2) bins that I use for different situations.

More than you needed to know, but I think very highly of the Pentax ED

Exactly!